MINISTER FOR Finance Michael Noonan was to meet the acting director of the IMF, John Lipsky, and US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner in Washington late yesterday, before attending a reception at the residence of Ambassador Michael Collins.

He will talk with the head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Donohue, today.

Mr Noonan started the day at the New York Stock Exchange. At a breakfast with potential investors hosted by IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, he emphasised record growth last year in the Irish export sector and a 14 per cent reduction in unit labour costs. He reassured the investors that there would be no change in Ireland’s 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate.

Returning to the theme in an interview with CNBC television, Mr Noonan said: “The 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate is not negotiable. What we’re being asked to do is to change it for the sake of a lower interest rate. We’d rather pay the higher interest rate, and we’ll continue to pay it if the quid pro quo is any change in our corporate tax rate. We’re not for turning, as Lady Thatcher said.” Mr Noonan sent a representative to the European finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels yesterday, which was dominated by Greek debt. In his interview with CNBC, he repeated three times that “Ireland is totally different from Greece.”

Asked by CNBC why Ireland seemed to be siding with Germany regarding an extension of Greek debt maturities, Mr Noonan said, “Well, we don’t . . . But we see a situation now emerging where there will be some arrangements for Greek debt because quite frankly in our view, they can’t make the repayment dates and the amounts that are scheduled for repayment . . .

“We don’t want a credit event that has a contagion effect for Ireland,” he added.

In his meetings in the US, Mr Noonan seeks to convey that recent Central Bank stress tests were well received, that Ireland is acting with a high degree of transparency and that respected international consultants have validated the results.

Mr Noonan is stressing that Ireland’s economy will return to growth this year, and that growth will average 3 per cent over the next three years. He says the current account of the balance of payments has moved into surplus, and that €21 billion have been cut from the budget since 2008, or two-thirds of total reductions of €29 billion.

This was achieved in part through a 14 per cent reduction in public sector pay, cuts in social welfare and increases in personal taxation.